Dad is great he makes chocolate pancakes. It's a song mom sings when Dad makes me this for breakfast EVERY DAY! Everyone around me wants 2021 to come fast, but 2020 for me has been a great year for Dad and me! During lockdown Dad would take us for drives to get out of the house every night, I get to do school from home, and I've got the entire kitchen table for my toy horse arena! Mom is very busy doing mom stuff, so's dad. But dad always takes breaks to help mom out and clean! It's nice having everyone home until it's not. Every night I get upset because of something my older siblings said or left me out of. But Dad always ends my night with Uno and a prayer. 2020 was not a good year for a lot of people, but for me, it was a year of Dad and chocolate chip pancakes.
You know that feeling when standing around the campfire, you move and the windy smoke follows. UUGGG that's what it feels like when you walk out the front door, you can't escape the stifling smoke! We have the most hazardous air conditions WORLD WIDE. Therefore we have all the animals in the house...1 Dog, 3 Cats, and a Rabbit. I don't know which is worse the smoke smell outside or the barn stink inside!
Along with these major fires, smaller fires are popping up here and there. The two very close to home are thankfully extinguished tonight. The larger fires (112k acres) however are at 0% containment and are spreading quite quickly. My in-laws fantasy trail extremely close to this dangerous fire!
With all the crap going on in the world today; COVID, social justice, cancel culture, presidential race, how to have the perfect Pinterest work studio for distance learning 😱, etc. etc. . I put my hands up and prayed! I prayed for God's wisdom as my mind was in constant danger mode. I heard be still! I did so for about a week, no social media, no TV! A total reset! During that time I learned a lot about the brain! "This is your brain... this is your brain on drugs!" I did an about-face and learned about things that are healthy for the brain and my well being.
I'm back from my mental vacation and have learned a few tricks to make social media more "my brain-friendly."
-Snooze (for 30 days) those in your life that bring up triggers. I suggest snoozing again until mid-November for obvious reasons.
- Unfollow those groups that feed into your worries! Unless you plan on taking action to help said groups, what is the point of just giving thoughts and prayers?
- Put a time limit on the news. If you feel the need to get caught up on the news, do so with local news (they tend to be more neutral) and it's information that pertains to your local life. That said, Portland has a lot going on, so I put a time limit to my viewing. Morning news only, watching the news before bed is not a good idea. Before my "reset" I was watching live protests at night, waking up to ask the question "Are we in a civil war yet?" It was a very toxic way of thinking.
- ESCAPE! I had forgotten how much I enjoyed a good fiction book. And it's good for the kids to see Mom relaxed and enjoying herself!
